The Epidemiology Research Core (ERC) supports population-based research by providing access to metropolitan Detroit cancer cases and the cancer registry data for research. The Core also provides epidemiology consulting and collaborates with KCI members conducting investigations in cancer prevention, etiology, treatment and outcomes. This mission is achieved through services including rapid case ascertainment (RCA) for population-based case enrollment; collection of medical records and biospecimens for population-based cases; abstracting medical records for study-specific information for population-based cases; linkage of datasets to patient data for diagnostic, treatment, and outcomes data; identifying population-based control groups; oversight and support of population-based study participant recruitment and interviewing; and epidemiologic expertise and collaboration for the conduct of population-based investigations of cancer. These objectives are achievable because WSU and KCI house the Metropolitan Detroit Cancer Surveillance System (MDCSS), an NCI-funded population-based Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registry covering the metropolitan Detroit population of four million residents. This population represents a large number of minorities, with -25% of the 25,000 annual cancer diagnoses in the SEER catchment area being African American, making the population ideal for the study of health disparities. The ERC benefits KCI by centralizing access to SEER data and standardizing patient, physician and hospital interactions for research relying on identification of and access to study participants for population-based research.